Visual Studio 2026

iamgigglz · 2025-12-12T09:36:38+0000

Anyone had a proper crack at it yet?
I've been using it for all my .Net work and the only real benefit I'm seeing it the "live" view of variable values while debugging, which is really helpful tbf.
None of my projects are big enough to comment on build times or anything like that and I don't use any of the AI stuff.

I came across my first real issue this morning though. I added a parameter to a service method and its interface, but the references to the method in my controller weren't "seeing" the new parameter. F12 took me to an old decompiled version. No amount of cleaning & rebuilding fixed the problem.
I opened the solution in VS2022 and hey presto it works as expected.

Mr Jack · 2025-12-12T10:00:13+0000

iamgigglz said:
I've been using it for all my .Net work and the only real benefit I'm seeing it the "live" view of variable values while debugging, which is really helpful tbf.

What does this mean? How does the new "live" view differ from seeing the value of variables while you're stepping through in previous versions?

Grim5 · 2025-12-12T10:01:00+0000

Does it have copilot built in?

SimonRigga · 2025-12-12T10:01:46+0000

Mr Jack said:
What does this mean? How does the new "live" view differ from seeing the value of variables while you're stepping through in previous versions?

was about to ask this myself, you've always been able to see the values of variables while stepping through..

iamgigglz · 2025-12-12T10:02:53+0000

Mr Jack said:
What does this mean? How does the new "live" view differ from seeing the value of variables while you're stepping through in previous versions?

Basically (almost) any variable that's on screen and part of your current "flow"(?) of code will have its current value displayed next to it so you don't have to pin variables or hover.

iamgigglz · 2025-12-12T10:03:41+0000

Grim5 said:
Does it have copilot built in?

Yes but it's as easily switched off/ignored as it always has been.

Mr Jack · 2025-12-12T10:11:09+0000

iamgigglz said:
Basically (almost) any variable that's on screen and part of your current "flow"(?) of code will have its current value displayed next to it so you don't have to pin variables or hover.

Hmm. It's not really obvious to me why that's better than having the variables in the watch window, maybe it's something I need to see in person to appreciate.

I've been trying to move away from using Visual Studio mostly, I find it's too heavyweight for the work I do and the design increasingly feels old and cluttered.

iamgigglz · 2025-12-12T10:25:57+0000

Mr Jack said:
I've been trying to move away from using Visual Studio mostly, I find it's too heavyweight for the work I do and the design increasingly feels old and cluttered.

Agreed. I was vainly hoping for something new & shiny for 2026 but it seems to be more of an "under the hood" upgrade. I wouldn't use it if I didn't have to.

throwaway4372 · 2025-12-12T11:46:46+0000

Yeah I've been using it, observations:
- no blue theme, had to install a theme to get it back
- performs miles better
- my test coverage extension broke, but now it has test coverage built in, it's an adjustment though because it works differently

GravyMonster · 2025-12-12T11:49:37+0000

Grim5 said:
Does it have copilot built in?

It does, and it's still just as useless as it was in VS22.

throwaway4372 said:
- performs miles better

This is all I really care about. There's a whole world of junk in VS that is surplus to requirements most of the time. It'd be nice if we could have a 'base' install and only add what we actually need for our own workflows.